and strong convictions. i wanted a president who was smart. >> that's it for us. thanks for watching. "early start" begins now. welcome to a special election day edition of "early start." it's here and the battle for every last vote is on this morning. the best political team on tv has it covered from wire to wire today. >> i'm john berman. the first election results, they are in from the tiny towns of dixville notch. and in one of these towns, it's a result we've never seen before. >> the campaign trail extended. i'm christine romans. governor romney will keep pressing with two stops in the battlegrounds while president obama shoots hoops, an election day tradition.

>> and i'm zoraida sambolin. the immense damage from hurricane sandy forcing an election day scramble. people voting by e-mail and different polling stations and in some cases literally moving the earth to have their voices heard. >> joining us throughout the morning, congressman randy forbes of virginia, delaware governor jack markell, jim clyburn, obama campaign senior adviser david axelrod, bob mcdonald, ted strickland and bob shrum, a democratic consult and the who worked on the kerry and gore campaigns. special election coverage here on cnn begins right now. it is up to the american people right now. good morning and welcome to our special edition of "early start." we have complete 4ri6 coverage of election day 2012. over the past 17 months we've watched two campaign spend a

combined $3 billion, two candidates duel it out in three dramatic debates, all trying to win your vote. now more than 1 million campaign commercials later, 1 million campaign commercials later, the polls are opening. voting is beginning in parts of vermont. mitt romney not letting up on this election day. he's added two final campaign stops in cleveland, ohio and in pittsburgh, pennsylvania. both of them, of course, critical battle ground states. (is in chicago today. aides say he is likely to continue his election day tradition of playing basketball with friends before he goes to watch the returns. cnn reporters are fanned out all across the battleground states this morning, including in new hampshire. we have reports of the very first returns. john berman has a look at that. good morning. >> good morning, soledad. we begin with a town that traditionally counts and casts the first vote in the nation, dixville notch, new hampshire. the votes are in, they are

making history and it is a tie. david mattingly is in dixville notch. >> reporter: dixville niche prides themselves on being first in the nation they are the first ones to register their votes on election day. tonight there was something different. history was made here because they produced their first tie. there are only ten registered voters in this town. they split, five voters for obama, five for romney. people often look at dixville notch as the spark for any type of trend that might be coming on election day. but today, no one is sure what to make of this. >> it's a little surprising. this has never happened in dixville before, a tie. >> what does that say about the rest of election day? >> keep your eyes on the news reports, because it's going to be a wild ride. >> something also interesting here, there are five independent voters in this town, three

registered republicans, two rej xered democrats. so that means barack obama received one more vote than mitt romney from the independent voters. but, again, it's hard to say this is going to be any kind of trend. these are ten votes out of a state that will produce 700,000 votes this election day. >> that's david mattingly in dixville notch. another city in new hampshire votes at midnight, harts location, new hampshire. it started way back in the 1940s. the result there, this year, obama 23 votes, mitt romney with 9 votes. so mitt romney today is working overtime with a couple of election day stops, including one in ohio which is perhaps the biggest battle ground all. carol costello is live in blue ash, ohio, just outside cincinnati. good morning. >> i'm still getting over

dixville notch. can you imagine if it tied in ohio? we'd be waiting a long time for the winner of this election. we do not want that to happen. i'm in harts location. the president hoping for the same result. mitt romney and the republicans have a better ground game this time, they're getting people out to vote and here at blue ash, the polling station will open at 6:30 a.m. eastern time. they're expected to be chock full of voters. mostly republican because as you know, early voting has been a hit here in ohio, almost 1.8 million people have already voted. they either early voted or they voted by absentee. the big rub here is the provisional ballot. if you head made a mistake on your registration form or decided i was going to vote absentee, you'll be handed a provisional ballot. you'll have to fill out that provisional ballot all by yourself. one mistake means it's thrown out.

we're waiting for a 6:30 a.m. eastern time for people to fill this spot. i'll keep you posted. back to you, john. >> provisional ballots could be a four-letter word in the coming days. >> that's right. florida, another critical battle ground state. the campaign's final days were marked by controversy over the state's early voting. if it's clear if you do the math, for mitt romney to become president, he needs to win in florida. we're joined by ashleigh banfield in miami. good morning. >> the last republican president to actually take the white house without taking florida was warren harding back in '24. i suppose there's a first time to change that trend. john, 829 precincts in miami-dade and i'm just at one of them. i'm here two hours early. it's dark, it's lovely out. take a look behind me, though. are you ready for this? two hours until the polls open and we've already got a line of several people. i had a quick chat with some of

them, john. already some of these people have waited in early voting lines for six hours. so they are very keen to get going. i want to show you quickly as i give you stats on some of the early voting by the way. we have 11.4 million registered voters in florida. we have 4.46 who early voted. take a peek beyond me. i counted 26 of the voting booths ready to get set up when the election officials get ready to go. and 12-page ballot. 12 pages. you know how long that takes? that's why there's likely to be very long lines today, john. >> ashleigh banfield in miami. i can't believe they are lining up already. >> i know. that's great, right? >> it's crazy. great and crazy. later this hour we'll take you to virginia, another key state and also to new york which is not a battleground but where damage from superstorm sandy could affect the voting there. soledad? >> all right. thanks, john. the way our electoral system

works, some states get all the attention from the candidates, those swing states would be in that category. other states feel ignored. christine romans has a look at the states where president obama and mitt romney spent most of their time campaigning. >> where you see these spheres here, it shows you, this is a graphic representation of how much time they spend, how many visits they had, soledad, to some of the swing states. if you lived in colorado, oh, boy, you saw a lot of the candidates. paul ryan spent a lot of time in colorado. if you live in florida, you saw a lot of these candidates. you heard a lot of them on the airwaves and saw them in person, especially mitt romney and the president himself and now let's look at ohio because this, of course, is the big battleground. you can see just how much time they spent in ohio. i want to show you three parts in particular, suburbs of cleveland, columbus and cincinnati. a lot of attention on these spots. let's go in here to lake county. lake county. 2% of the population, the

president personally spending time here. why? in 2004, this went to bush. this is territory the president got and he's trying to hold on to. 2008, the president had a slim margin here in lake county. he's definitely trying to hold on to that. columbus, both candidates interested in keeping ahold of this territory. it's 9% of the population. and you come down here to hamilton county, 7%, both candidates spending a lot of time around cincinnati. again, back in 2004, this was bush territory. the president taking that last time around, trying to defend this territory. that's why spare spending so much time personally in ohio. >> hopefully for them the math works. if you camp out you can keep those votes you had last time around. >> that's right. other stories making news, zoraida has those stories. coastal communities are sitting in the path of nor'easter. 1.2 million people in that region still without power one

week after superstorm sandy slammed into the coastal northeast. that new storm has some communities telling its residents to evacuate again. brick, new jersey has a mandatory evacuation order in place for residents in the low-lying areas. it's also encouraging to leave if their home could be affected again. meteorologist rob marciano is tracking that new storm and has election day forecasts for you. you have your hands full, rob. >> yes. across florida and george is where the storm is beginning to take shape. the sunshine will get thunderstorms today, early on across the north and driving down towards tampa and orlando around midday. get out there early and vote if you can. rain mixed with snow across parts of wisconsin. elsewhere it will be warm across southern california, cool across the northeast. let's talk about the potential impact for this incoming nor'easter.the timing of which will be more so tomorrow than today. heavy rain, coastal flooding, beach erosion and wet snow for

the interior. maybe even the coastline. here's a storm going across florida today. get out early, especially across the central and southern part of the state. tomorrow, the low rides up the coastline. it won't be anywhere near like sandy but it will have close enough to have impacts. there are areas that will be evacuating, flood watches in effect. and also some white on the map here. just a combination of really horrifying elements considering the fact that we have tens of thousands of people that are homeless with this storm coming in. zoraida, we'll keep you posted as this forecast changes. >> insult to injury. thank you so much, rob. an evidence hearing is under way at a military base in washington state. it will determine whether robert bales should be tried for murder in the shooting deaths of 16 afghan civilians. that was back in march. police are looking for a skateboarder who robbed a bank in carlsbad, california. investigators say the man

dressed in the all black handed a teller a note yesterday. there's a picture of him there, demanding an undisclosed amount of money. the teller complied. no one was hurt. investigators say witnesses didn't spot a weapon. but they have his mug. right, soledad, did you see that? >> yes. and he's on a skateboard. my guess is they'll wrap up the case pretty soon. keep it right here on cnn, our special live election coverage begins tonight at 6:00 p.m. eastern. cnn's wolf blitzer has a preview. and apparently he does not have a preview. obviously a little problem with the tape of wolf. but basically tonight is where you want to be watching cnn's coverage. coming up this morning on our special election day edition of "early start," who will win or will we have a winner at all, will the results be delayed for days? we'll take a look at the potential scenarios ahead. we're back in just a moment.

stay with us.

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welcome back, everybody. it's finally here. my goodness. today's the day americans will decide who will be sitting in the oval office for the next four years. some of the earliest polling station are just opening in vermont. we'll be bringing you up to the minute details this morning and obviously throughout the day. joining us this morning, cnn contributor and republican strategist anna navarro. you also worked on the huntsman and mccain campaigns. and cnn political analyst roland martin, tv one. thanks for being with us. appreciate it. >> it's 5:16 in the morning. >> let's begin, roland, with you. who's going to win, by how much and why? a nutshell? >> i think president obama 281 electoral college votes. look at the skinned lead, what's happening out west, michigan, wisconsin, ohio, pennsylvania,

also i believe he takes new hampshire. the folks who are saying more than 300, i don't think so. this is an extremely tight election. this reminds me of the 2004 election. president george w. bush wins ohio by 110,000 votes. >> anna navarro? >> i'm not going to predict. >> how about if i made you predict? >> under gunpoint? >> i'm not a violent person but i'll lean on you hard. >> she'll bring you grits and pork bellies. >> i want to know. if your heart of hearts. >> it's too close. look at state after state, look at what just happened in dixonville. first time in history we have a 5-5. tomorrow 50% of this country will be very disappointed. and 50% of the country will be very happy. >> come on, make the call! make a call! >> people have to go out and vote today. >> of course. >> today is the morning we should be telling people anything can make a difference,

the weather can make a difference. your vote can make a difference. 537 votes made a difference in florida. >> she's notorious for telling the truth and speaking your mine. i'm surprised you're not speaking your mind right now. >> i think it's too -- you know something? i think it's too close to call. i think that is the truth for me. >> i want to ask john a question. nate silver has upped his percentage of prediction for obama to 91%. you have nate silver on one side and pretty much everybody in the gop who said, listen, i think we're win this. are all the polls wrong? is nate silver wrong? >> that's the question. what nate is saying, if you follow the state polling and you believe the state polling, the combination is there for president obama. if you believe there's a sampling problem in almost every state poll then you have the raerns analysts solution which is that largely mitt romney will win. what you want to watch for is virginia. it closes at 7:00 tonight. if it's tied or the president's

ahead, then it means the polls have basically been right. that's what the polls have been saying all along. if mitt romney is ahead by four points or so, then the republican analysts are all right. these polls have been off by a consistent measurement. if that's the case early on, it's a big night for mitt romney. >> as recent history tells us, not everything will run particularly smoothly on election day. there have been issues, already some legal fights. ali velshi is wonner itting some -- monitoring some of the problems for us. we'll be right back after this short break. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia.

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welcome back, everybody. you're watching a special election day edition of "early start." we are tracking potential voting pitfalls in some key swing states, provisional ballots in all-important ohio, not to mention confusion over voting after superstorm sandy. ali velshi is following these angles for us from the cnn center in atlanta. let's begin with florida. >> long lines. we might be talking about florida very late tonight, maybe even tomorrow. bottom line is you used to have 14 days to vote ahead of polling days. the governor and legislature changed that to eight days and that's what you're seeing. that's the result. we've seen lineups for 400 or 500 people, reports that people have waited seven hours. michelle obama making a speech saying if you're in the line,

don't leave the line. we've seen people leaving the lines. the problem is as you know, the last time florida was a problem in 2000, the final count was 537 votes. so everybody matters in florida, in ohio, everywhere in the kurch but the bottom line is particularly in these swing states. the problem will be in florida, people leaving because the vote lines are too long or people being in line when the polls close. we're monitoring and getting complaints from people and finding out what the problems are and what their options are for voting in florida. >> in florida, that ballot is so long. >> yes. >> let's turn to ohio, provisional bat ballot could become a problem, right? >> yes. i'm getting tweets saying why do you talk about provisional ballots? they're not actual votes. they're absolutely votes, but they're votes from people who didn't get their ballot in the mail or their address has changed or you can't prove who you are. the lawyer was the person take

your ballot had to fill out this form. you have to fill off this form. i've been over the form and it's a little bit confusing. the secretary of state imposed this last week. there have been lawsuits there. they will not be heard for a while because the provisional b ballots don't get counted until ten days after the election. again, unless ohio is very close, it won't matter but last election, there were 400,000 provisional ballots, 50,000 of which were thrown out. you can tell this, too, will be a point of contention. >> ali velshi, appreciate that. price tag for this election, record breaking and enormous. where did all that money go? christine romans will take a look at the campaign cash, coming up. back in a moment.

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welcome back, everybody, you're watching a special edition of "early start" and our live coverage of election day 2012. voting is already under way in parts of vermont and 11 more states are set to open their polls in the next 60 minutes or so after a 17-month marathon which cost a combined $3 billion. the candidates spent the final hours of the campaign making some closing arguments. take a look. >> our fight goes on because america always does best when everybody gets a fair shot. and everybody does their fair share. and everybody plays by the same rules. that's what we believe. that's why you elected me in

2008 and that's why i'm running for a second term. >> this is much more than our moment. it's america's moment of renewal and purpose and optimism. and we've journeyed far and wide in this great campaign for america's future. now we're almost home. >> there are already legal issues plaguing two key battle ground states in florida, more along the lines yesterday. democrats are suing to extend early slow thing hours, even though they legally ended those hours on saturday. in ohio, a hearing is set for wednesday morning to hear arguments for rules about counting those provisional ballots. a finally tally from the buckeye state could take weeks. and inco and new jersey is allowing voting by e-mailing or fax. joining us throughout the morning, randy forbes of virginia, delaware governor jack markell, south carolina congressman jim clyburn, david

axelrod, the obama campaign senior adviser, virginia governor bob mcdonal, ted strickland, texas congressman ted henserling and bob shrum. john berman is with us this morning as well. >> we have results in believe it or not. in dixville notch, new hampshire, they have spoken. for the first time in history, it's a tie. harts location, another new hampshire voting spot. 23 for president obama and 9 for mitt romney. moving on to a state with a little more voting going on today, virginia, it's very much still in play. vice president biden was also there twice and four years ago, president obama became the first democrat to carry the state since 1964. if obama can win their again it makes mitt romney's job really, really tough. i'm joined now by randi kaye,

live in woodbridge, virginia. good morning. >> reporter: it will be an interesting election day here in virginia. no doubt, 13 electoral votes up for grab grabs. people were here about 4:40 a.m. this morning trying to get in. i guess they were expecting long lines because they don't have early voting here in virginia. they have in-person absentee voting. you need a good excuse not to show up on election day. they also have the new voter i.d. law. what's going to be interesting today is the demographics and seeing how they play out. it's the old virginia versus the new virginia. the old virginia is the -- it's very republican, religious, white working class. the new virginia is urban diverse. that's what helped get obama elected here by 6 percentage points back in '08. also the economy. people will be looking at that. this is a robust economy in virginia, 5.2% unemployment.

we'll see how that plays into all of this as well. john? >> all right, randi kaye, live in virginia. polls close at 7:00 p.m. the new york metro area is still reeling from superstorm sandy, now bracing for a nor'easter and voting is yet another hurdle for people displaced from their homes. the new york's governor cuomo allowed people to vote at any polling place. >> i'm back at brooklyn tech high school, which is the only school in new york city serving as both an emergency shelter and a polling station today. and you're absolutely right. at the 11th hour yesterday, new york's governor andrew cuomo signed an executive order that essentially says if you live in a federal disaster zone in new york, you can cast your ballot at any polling site in new york state. this is unprecedented.

and it will allow up to 143,000 voters in new york city alone to cast their ballots today. these are people who might otherwise have problems getting to a polling station. now, this is not a perfect solution, the governor admits. it could complicate some local races. but the simple way to put it is your vote will count for the races you are eligible to vote for. the governor says just because you are displaced after the storm doesn't mean you should be disenfranchised. john, he adds after last week, quote, this will be a walk in the park. we'll have to wait and see. the polls open in less than an hour. >> new york not a swing state but everyone counts. it's important to vote everywhere. the price tag for the 2012 elections has exploded and is already breaking major records. the damage, $4.2 billion through sunday for the presidential and congressional races. final figures could hit $6 billion. some 750 million of it devoted

to tv ads for campaigns. christine romans is tracking that. >> if you live in one of the swing states you've been hearing more about the candidates than you have for toothpaste and cars for some time now. this is the romney war chest, all of these red spheres. this is the obama war chest and then these are just the republican tied pacs, the democrat tied pacs. if you live in, say, colorado, you've been hearing a lot about the candidates or about their opponents for some time now. if you live in high wa, you have, too. you can see the edge in terms of the number of ad counts for the president here from both the pac and also the campaign itself. maybe that's something that's been paying off for him. i want to take a look further out here and look at florida. florida, fascinating story here. just look at the romney spins

obama. the whole thing, i was in tallahassee. you couldn't get through a commercial break with any other ads except for political ads. this has been so competitive and intense here. in virginia, all you have to do -- look at that. that's been amazing as well. you can see how competitive it is in virginia. 48-47 from "the wall street journal"/maris poll. >> we'll know pretty soon whether all of those ad buys paid off. certainly that's been an area that's been bombarded. >> it's fascinating. the rains may have spent more money on ads but the democrats may have spent less money by placing their ads early. >> a reminder that cnn's live coverage of election night in america begins tonight when the

polls close, that's at 6:00 p.m. eastern time right here on cnn. the last thing that people living in coastal communities in new york and new jersey need is another powerful storm. a nor'easter is headed their way, even as thens of thousands struggle to recover from the devastation of superstorm sandy. the new storm is expected to hit tomorrow. it will last until thursday morning and will pack high winds and heavy rain. coastal flooding is also a very strong possibility. rob marciano is monitoring the track of the storm at the weather center in atlanta. will it have impact on voters heading to the polls today, will you think? >> it will across the south. florida it will have an impact and it could be significant. also, problem areas, rain mixed with snow at times, across parts of wisconsin, shouldn't be too terrible a deal. other than that the weather looks fairly tranquil. the pacific northwest gets rain and wind. georgia seeing rainfall and the storm that will be this nor'easter is about to get

through florida, the panhandle and the big bend area in through sarasota and tampa. get out there early. it could have significant impacts. studies show that 1 inch of rainfall will drop voter turnout by 1% and foul weather in general favors republicans by about 2.5%. we have foul weather is potentially more than an inch of rain heading through florida today. keep that in mine. voters dealing with power outages, storm damage as well. here's our storm tomorrow. again, the impact for this will be tomorrow afternoon, tomorrow night, winds, some rain, some coastal flooding. as you mention, there are areas that have been e-evacuated in anticipation of the next storm. >> continued tough times for people. thank you, rob. a 48-hour general strike is on its way in greece.

they kick off the nationwide protest. they'll be joined by other yawn onworkers today and they are protesting the latest round of budget cutbacks that parliament will vote on this week. "monday night football" in new orleans, saints quarterback drew brees throwing two touchdown passes in a 28-13 victory over the eagles. philadelphia quarterback michael vick sacked seven times, as the eagles stumble to their fourth straight loss. did you hear this wow in the studio, soledad? >> seven times, michael vick, ow. >> let's go back to drew brees. >> he needs a rubdown. >> after all the campaigning, after all the ads, there is a possibility the election could be locked in an electoral college tie, 269-269. what happens then? we'll break down the rules for you, straight ahead. because my dentures fit well.

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welcome back, everybody. we're coming to you live from washington, d.c. this morning. election drama could extend well beyond today's vote, for example, there's a possibility of an electoral college tie, 269-269. in the unlikely event that that happens, tom foreman has a blow-by-blow of the rules that would determine who becomes president and who becomes vice president. take a look. >> reporter: hey, soledad, even if every single state out there votes as anticipated, each one of these liens represents a way in which the battleground states could come together to produce an electoral tie, 269 votes for each of the candidates. if that happens, everything changes. here's rule number one. the incoming house of representatives would pick the president. that's right. after all this voting, all the ads, all the billions of dollars spent, the folks who are going to gather in this chamber in january would then have the task

of deciding on who the president is going to be. rule number two. one vote per delegation or one vote per state. this is actually a big deal. let me bring in a map to show you precisely why. under this rule, huge states like california with tens of millions of voters would suddenly have no more influence than a state like north dakota with far fewer voters. one vote per state. that's it. and it gets better. look at number number three. the popular vote does not couldn't the. your state's vote would be determined by your congressional delegation and that could make strange things happen. look at illinois over here, the president's home state. it has voted reliably democratic in the last several presidential elections. look at the congressional districts there. there are more congress members from that state who are republican than democrat and they could tilt the vote there and simply say, illinois goes to romney, even if the people of the state didn't feel like that's what they wanted.

if you have a state like minnesota right now that has been equal number of republicans and democrats, it would nullify its own vote unless they could work out a deal. bottom line, this could change the electoral map. when we look at the red states, blue states and battlegrounds, this say very close race. in the current congress, it would be something like this. look at the red states, the rains would sweep into power and mitt romney would go right into the white house with paul ryan. although maybe not with paul ryan. the funny thing is, even though the house would pick the president, the senate gets the job of picking the vice president. and if the new senate also had a democratic majority like the current one, they could give us something that nobody anticipates. mitt romney as president and joe biden as his vice president. no, the democrats can't swap somebody else out. they couldn't put barack obama

in that job and, yes, if there is a tie, jb oe biden could cas the deciding vote for himself. in a race that close you'd see recountses, court challenges or the most startling thing at all, a faithless elector. when you vote, you're not voting for president. you're voting for members of the electoral college who will gather and vote for president. one of them from your state could go rogue. one of them could simply say i'm not going to vote the way i was told to vote. if that happened, if that one person simply changed his or her mind, that person could change history and decide with one vote whether barack obama or mitt romney is president. soledad? >> that is so fascinating. our special election coverage continues tonight, 6:00 p.m. eastern. here's wolf blitzer with a preview. we're really excited, soledad, about our coverage tonight.

we've got a lot going on. john king will be at the cnn magic wall over there. he's looking at the various permutati permutations, we have 16 reporters in all the key battleground states. we'll touch base with them. tom foreman is in the virtual senate. you saw what he has in store. he has more surprises coming up. we have the best analysts in the business. they're standing by. we'll dice everything step by step. the great thing about covering the elections is, you never know what's going to happen. there could be huge surprises there tonight and we will be watching it together with all of our viewers. speaking of surprises we have other shall we say technical surprises in the works as well. i think our viewers, soledad, will be very, very happy. >> we're looking forward to that. we are back right after this. stay with us. maybe somewhere around my house. mine's just, right over that way. well you can find out exactly where it is using bing elections.

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welcome back, everybody. does the election end tonight? will we have a clear winner tomorrow morning? back with us here in d.c., cnn contributor, anna navarro and roland martin. do you think we know tonight. >> i think we know tonight. i don't think it will drag on. i don't foresee florida in 2000. we keep picking on anna's state. >> i know. i am feeling picked on. >> we've already seen long lines in florida.

we already know there are legal challenges. all that would make me feel maybe it's not going to be decided tonight. >> i don't think it will be close enough in florida for us to be -- maybe it's wishful thinking on my behalf. a recount is a divisive, long, difficult process. you know what, wishful thinking, optimism, yes, my hope is that this is over, if not tonight, at least tomorrow morning. >> the western states will play key as well, nevada, colorado. we weren't talking about those states in 2000, 2004, there will be a difference as well. >> david frum wrote no voting system is perfect. but here's what doesn't happen in other democracies, politicians of one party do not set voting schedules to favor their side and harm the other. politicians do not move around voting places to gain advantages of themselves or to

disadvantage -- in fact, in almost no other country do politicians have any say in the administration of the elections at all. >> i agree. >> i worry about who has control of that process. >> in no other country do we spend so much time. this has been a year and a half almost. it feels like a year and a half since the primaries. >> it feels like five. >> in no other country is there -- really in few other countries is there early voting, absentee balloting. all the opportunities there are to vote in this country. >> we still don't have such a high percent of participation. maybe we should rethink how we do it. >> we need the forms of voting to protect ourselves from the secretaries of state who want to sit here and make all these maneuvers. that is a fundamental problem because, again, not only that, you have people who are secretaries of state also are campaign co-chairs. how can you say my job is to protect the vote but i really want this person to vote. >> you think it's going to be

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it is 57 minutes past the hour. welcome back to our special election coverage live from washington, d.c. outside the race for president, there are other important races that will be decided on this election day. the massachusetts senate race is one of the toughest battles. senator scott brown, the republican incumbent facing

democrat elizabeth warren. they've been running neck and neck in one of the most expenses races in the entire congress. in florida's 18th congressional district, palm beach county, republican congressman allen west trying to hold on against democratic challenger patrick murphy. the race is so heated west has taken florida democrats to task for questioning and filing suit over early voting there. former presidential candidate michele bachmann is fighting for her political life today. the minnesota congresswoman is in a tight race with jim graves. in their final debate, she defended her claims that muslim brotherhood operatives have infiltrated the federal government. and we caught former arizona congresswoman gabby giffords arriving to cast her ballot in downtown tucson yesterday. take a look. she was joined by her successor, democratic congressman ron barber. he was shot twice alongside giffords that killed six in

2011. he's locked in a tight race. stay with us. this special edition of "early start" continues right now, live from washington, d.c. good morning. welcome, everybody, i'm soledad o'brien and you're watching a special election day edition of "early start." it is here, the battle for every last vote continues this morning. eight states are opening their polls right now and the best political team on tv has it covered, from wire to wire today. >> i'm john berman. an indication that could be a close one. the first election results, they are in from the tiny towns of dixville notch and harts location in new hampshire. in one of those towns it's a result we've never seen before. >> campaign trail extended. i'm christine romans. governor romney adding a couple of key stops today. but president obama is standing pat and shooting some hoops on the last day of his final campaign ever. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin, the immense damage from hurricane

sandy farcing an election day scramble. people voting by e-mail and at different polling stations and in some cases literally >> join us throughout the morning for our special election-day coverage. congressman randy forbes of virginia, delaware governor jack markell will be our guest, south carolina congressman jim clyburn. obama campaign senior adviser david axelrod. virginia governor bob mcdonnell. former ohio governor ted strickland. texas congressman jeb hensarling and bob sh rum, a democratic consultant who worked on the kerry and gore campaign. special election coverage here on cnn begins right now. maybe it felt like five years to you but it's been 17 months of campaigning and campaign promises, and today the american people get their say. good morning, welcome to a special edition of "early start." and our live coverage of election day 2012.

now the polls are opening right now in eight states, in connecticut, in indiana, kentucky, maine, in new hampshire, in new jersey, new york and in the state of virginia. folks, about a year and a half we've watched the two candidates spend $3 billion and duel it out in three dramatic debates, all for a chance for your vote. mitt romney has added two final campaign stops, one in cleveland, ohio. the other in pittsburgh, pennsylvania. president obama is in chicago today, and aides say he is likely to continue his election-day tradition of playing basketball with his friends before he sits down to watch the returns. we just mentioned the polls open now in eight states, including the key battleground state. john berman's got more on that. good morning. >> good morning, soledad. the first results of the presidential election could indicate just how close this race will be. president obama and mitt romney tied with five votes apiece in tiny dixville notch, new hampshire. they made history in the process. never been a tie there. the midnight vote in another

small new hampshire town, harts location, was a bit more ee dicive, obama won there with 23 votes, mitt romney had just 9 votes. joined by david mattingly who is live in bedford, new hampshire this morning. dave the polls are now open in the granite state. >> that's right. and there is no early voting in new hampshire, unlike in other states, so today is the day. they have over 800,000 registered voters in this state, and there's something about new hampshire. they allow people to sign up to vote the very day that they go to vote. so today, in addition to here in bedford when you see all these polling places ready to go, also we're going to be keeping an eye on this desk right here. this is where people will come to register to vote today, the secretary of state predicts that in addition to the 800,000 already signed up to vote, we could see another 100,000 signing up to vote today, as

they come into the polling places. so, we're looking for a very busy day here in new hampshire. john? >> new hampshire, they take their voting very, very seriously. david mattingly live in bedford, new hampshire. virginia also one of the states to watch tonight. the polls now there open as well. and that key battleground state. randi kaye is live in woodbridge, virginia, where it's still dark. good morning, randi. >> good morning, john. yes, the polls are open. we can see a few people here behind me just starting to file in. they expect about 1,000 people to vote here. they're not just voting for president, of course, they're also voting for the senate. and here is one of the really the marquee races for the senate taking place here in virginia. two former governors battling it out. you have democrat tim kaine and republican george allen. they've really been riding the coattails of president obama and mitt romney appearing on stage with them, and many, many times. now the issue here, though, john, is the fiscal cliff, because george allen the republican has been hammering his opponent, democrat tim kaine

and the democrats are failing to reach a debt deal. and he's warning that if the automatic cuts, of course, go into effect, then that will really hit the defense industry here in virginia quite hard. we'll see how that plays out today. but what's interesting is that folks here really believe that virginia is the new ohio. and they think they have a really big role here. so we'll see how it plays out through the rest of election day. john? >> all right, randi kaye live in virginia. it could be a long day there. polls just opening in new york, as well. new york not a swing state. but the new york metro area still reeling from superstorm sandy and now everysomeone bracing for a new nor'easter coming their way. so voting has become a pretty big hurdle for people displaced from their homes. new york's governor andrew cuomo trying to remedy that. he signed an order allowing them to vote at any polling place. cnn's alina cho is at a makeshift polling station in brooklyn, new york. good morning, alina. >> john, good morning to you.

i'm at the only school in new york city that is serving as both an emergency shelter and a polling station today. the polls are open here in new york. a line has formed around the corner, about a dozen people on line. these are people who are not displaced, but they are very excited to vote. including one woman who even brought a chair. she said she's very serious about it. but you're absolutely right. late yesterday, just hours before the polls opened, new york governor andrew cuomo signed an executive order that essentially says, if you live in a federal disaster zone in new york, you can cast your ballot today, not just in your district, but in any polling site in the state. now, all you have to do is go into that site, sign an affidavit, and you can vote. this is unprecedented. and it will mean that up to 143,000 voters in new york city alone will be able to cast their ballots today. these are people who might otherwise have problems getting to a voting site. this is not a perfect solution. the governor admits it might

complicate some local races, because ballots will be different in different districts. but it will allow people to vote and that's the bottom line. john, back to you. >> and it's a big opportunity for voters in that state. and they need something on their side right now. alina cho, thank you so much in brooklyn, new york. later this hour we're going to check in live with reporters in ohio, illinois, massachusetts. so much to talk about. but right now back to the battleground state of virginia, where the fight could not be more fierce. the latest poll has president obama and mitt romney in a dead heat there. back to soledad. >> let's get right to randy forbes, a republican congressman from the state of virginia. he's also mitt romney supporter. nice to see you, sir. thank you for talking with us this morning. >> thanks, soledad. always great to be with you. >> appreciate that. all right two events have been added now to the governor's calendar. state of ohio, he's going to be campaigning there. then he's going to go into the state of pennsylvania. how shall we read that? is that an indication that he's worried and feels like he needs every last second to get out there to campaign?

>> i don't think so. i think if you look at these huge crowds you know in virginia alone he just had a crowd that they had to turn down several thousand people, they couldn't get them into the venue because it was just too many people showing up. i think the governor's excited. i think he sees this momentum and wants to take advantage of all of it and all these states are coming into play. >> if you look at what nate silver from "the new york times" has been really crunching the data, and tweeting out some of his results, he tweeted out last night that the president had a 91% chance of winning the electoral college, and he notes, quote, pretty clear shift to obama in the national polls. i know lots of republicans who said these polls could be way off. where do you stand on that? are you seeing the -- are you crunching the same data that he's crunching? >> well, soledad as you know "the new york times" is not exactly a bastion of conservative thought. but if you look at a lot of other experts who make their living on this, whether it's michael barone or karl rove or bill kristol or even rush limbaugh, they've come out, they've done the same thing --

>> not bastions -- >> -- governor romney's going to have a big day today, and i think that's what we're going to see. you know, some of these polls, soledad, as you know, they measure a few hundred people. we've been measuring thousands of people across virginia. and if the excitement across the country is anything like it is in virginia i think it's going to be a enthusiast day in the country tomorrow. >> just to point out, the nate silver is very careful about focusing on the numbers. and he doesn't have a liberal bias in his calculations which i think is why a lot of people follow what he has to say. i'm not sure how i feel about what he's been reporting that 91%. we've been discussing it. hurricane sandy the impact it closed down i know in person absentee voting in maryland on monday. delayed the opening of some polling places i believe as well today. what do you what do you think would happen from that? do you foresee it doesn't end tonight there could be some legal battles down the road in your state? >> soledad, i think we could always see that. but i really believe virginia has a pretty good voting

history. i think we're going to have a pretty clear decision by the end of this evening. that's certainly what we're hoping for. i don't think sandy is going to have a major impact on that decision. >> randy forbes is a republican congressman from the state of virginia joining us this morning. nice to see you, sir. thank you for your time. we appreciate it. >> thanks, soledad. have a great day. >> thank you. likewise. cnn has complete coverage and analysis as the polls close this evening. here's wolf with a look at how it's going to go. >> we're really excited, soledad, about our coverage tonight because we've got a lot going on. john king will be in the cnn magic wall over there. he's looking at all the various permutations. we have 16 reporters, 16 reporters in all the key battleground states. we'll touch base with them. tom foreman is in the virtual set, as you saw what he has in store. he's got some more surprises coming up. we've got the best analysts in the business. they're standing by. we'll dissect everything step by step. the great thing about coverage these elections, you never know

what's going to happen. there could be some huge surprises there tonight. and we will be watching it together with all of our viewers. speaking of surprises, we've got some other, shall we say, technical surprises, in the works, as well. and i think our viewers, soledad, will be very, very happy. >> all right. looking forward to that. let's get right to zoraida now. she's got a look at some of the other stories making news today. >> good morning, soledad. coastal communities in new york and new jersey are sitting in the path of a nor'easter. can you believe it? this is 1.2 million people in that region are still without power one week after superstorm sandy slammed into the coastal northeast. in fact, that new storm has some communities telling its residents to evacuate again. brick, new jersey, has a mandatory evacuation order in place for residents in all the low-lying areas and it's also encouraging others to leave if their home could be affected again. meteorologist rob marciano is tracking this new storm for us and also has a look at the election day forecast for the nation. we've got you nice and busy this

morning, rob. >> indeed. good morning, zoraida. that storm you were talking about, the nor'easter, is right now across georgia and florida. it already has some pretty potent energy with it. and the storms that will be rolling through florida will have some punch to them, as well. through tampa, orlando. get out there early or wait until it passes. it could last for two or three hours. significant rainfall event with certainly some lightning. as far as what that storm will turn into over the next couple of days, the timing of it is wednesday afternoon, in through thursday night. here are the winds potentially across the northeast. into the storm zone. maybe 40 to 50-mile-per-hour winds up through cape cod and also eastern long island. there's your wind threat. high wind watches have been posted for gusts potentially damaging, of course a lot of trees and limbs already weakened from sandy. so this will bring down likely more power lines. and the potential for snow, actually, exists. i don't know how much will actually stick. still warm here. but it's going to be a cold storm again. adding insult to injury.

>> that's just a mess. thanks for that, rob. we have a developing story in syria. seven generals in the syrian army defected to turkey today. this is the latest crack in the regime of president bashar al assad since civil war broke out a year and a half ago. a turkish news agency reports that the general's crossed the turkish border and demanded refuge. they have been taken to a camp, possibly a refugee camp, under tight security measures. and progress being made in battle against the cajon pass fire, southern california. crews have knocked down enough of the 350 acre brushfire to reopen part of the 15 freeway. that fire prompted mandatory evacuations in that region, soledad. >> all right, zoraida. thank you for watching that. as recent history tells us, not everything is going to run smoothly on election day. there have already been some issues. we'll take a closer look at those issues coming up.

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welcome back to special election day coverage from our nation's capital. michelle obama was taking an interesting tone last night as she defended her husband in orlando. let's play it and we'll talk about it on the other side. >> the auto industry was in crisis. this economy was losing 800,000 jobs a month. and a lot of folks were wondering whether we were headed for another great depression. do you hear me? that's what people were worried about. and that is what barack faced on day one as president of the united states. >> and the president, was he crying? was he crying in his final campaign event in iowa? take a look at this.

>> those of you haven't done this just for me, but for each other. for a laid-off family member, for a sick child, for a fallen friend. all of you who've lived and breathed the hard work of change, i want to thank you. you took this campaign and you made it your own and you organized yourselves, block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood, county by county, starting a movement that spread across the country. >> you could see a little tear, kind of, sort of. back with cnn contributor and republican strategist ana navarro and cnn political analyst roland morton. >> you've got to remember the night before the election 2008 he teared up due to the death of his grandmother. and so, i wouldn't be surprised if you're talking about the night before, that being an emotional remembrance. because he pretty much was talking about the exact same thing four years ago when he was in north carolina. >> also i think for both of them, on both sides, right, for

ann and mitt romney, and for president obama and michelle obama, it's exhausting. it's like running the boston marathon and you see the ribbon at the end, and you're like look, we're almost done. >> listen and also remember for president obama, this is his last campaign in his life. this is an end of a political career in that sense. so it's got to have some sort of nostalgia. but the emotion, the charged up, the scrutiny they've been under. the schedule they've been under. both of them, it's a day full of emotion. >> michelle obama, much tougher than i've heard her. >> -- defend her husband. >> let me tell you something, personally wasn't happy when i said it but i said seriously your wife blows you aware on campaigning. i've seen her speak without notes, without teleprompter and she really goes all in, and she's a phenomenal campaigner. >> but iowa, the place is really important for this president. because the people he was talking to there are the people who gave him the legs politically that allowed him to become president of the united

states. you think about when hillary clinton was in there for the caucuses, remember, and how it was clinton, it was clinton, it was edwards, it was barack obama maybe. and then suddenly he blew to the top of the list in that process. and so he was talking to the people there who actually gave him the legs -- >> he was closing the circle. >> absolutely. >> iowa was the game changer for the democrat primary four years ago. >> there was an article that talked about how far he's come from 2008 till now. he talked about having a room without any -- any electricity and no heat. and folks came in and brought all of the campaigners stuff to wear in order to keep them warm. >> he's got a long way to go, still, as we start election day today. we're going to come back with a look at some of the problems at the polls right after this. charlie rose: will you endorse president obama?

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welcome back, everybody. as the polls open up in states across the country, we're tracking any potential voting problems. already there's a fight over early voting in the state of florida. ali velshi is following those developments from the cnn center in atlanta. >> hey, soledad. they still continue those lineups. remember things have changed. yesterday early voting ended anywhere. now, it's the actual voting. in florida, look, they're kind of used to the long lineup that was there in 2008. it was there in 2010. but these are bigger because there were supposed to be 14 days of advanced voting, and they were reduced to eight days. floridians want to vote. some people have been not turned

away, they've walked away because they've had to spend up to seven hours in those lines. democrats are prepared to try and fight this. as you know they're lawyered up in florida and many other states. >> let's talk about ohio. divisional ballots could become a big problem if, in fact, ohio is as close as some people are predicting it could be, right? >> right. so provisional ballots are ballots that you use if you were mailed a ballot but want to use a different ballot or you didn't have sufficient i.d. or you weren't on the rolls. you have to fill out this form you're looking at now. that's new. it used to be that the person to whom you went to vote saying you had this kind of i.d. and it's your social security number. now it's on the voter to do it. democrats have complained it's disenfranchising because it's complicated. those provisional ballots get counted ten days after the election and won't matter if it's not close. but it will matter if it is close. by the way, last election, 200,000 provisional ballots were cast. it could actually make a difference. that's also before a judge. >> ali velshi for us. thanks for watching that.

you can share your voting experience with us by tending us a tweet or e-mail or text. twitter #cnnvotewatch. e-mail us at votewatch @cnn.com. or text us at cnn 55333. dozens of polls are opening across the country. a look at miami-dade county where voters are already lining up. plus you can check in with team obama and team romney. special election coverage live from washington, d.c. we're back right after this.

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(together) social on this side, financial. which party is currently predicted to win a majority in the senate? the republicans? would you make a bet on that? no. are you chicken?

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cnn's live coverage of election day 2012. we have the very first results in from dixville notch, new hampshire. for the first time in their history it's a tie. five votes for president obama, five votes for mitt romney. voting is under way now in 12 states total. opening right now north carolina, ohio and west virginia. and after a 17-month-long marathon, costing a combined $3 billion, the candidates have made their closing arguments. >> our fight goes on because america always does best. when everybody gets a fair shot. and everybody does their fair share. and everybody plays by the same rules. that's what we believe. that's why you elected me in 2008. and that's why i'm running for a second term. >> this is much more than our moment. it's america's moment of renewal, and purpose and optimism. and we've journeyed far and wide through this great campaign for america's future. and now we're almost home.

>> there are already legal issues plaguing two key battleground states. in florida, long lines continuing including where you're looking right now, miami-dade county where the polls won't even open for another 30 minutes. democrats soon to extend early voting hours even though those legally ended on saturday. then in the state of ohio, a hearing is set for wednesday morning to hear arguments about the rule for counting provisional ballots. the final tally from the buckeye state could take weeks. in the aftermath of superstorm sandy, new jersey is allowing voting by e-mail and fax. new york is allowing voters to cast ballots at any polling place in the state. joining us throughout the morning, the delaware governor jack markell, south carolina congressman jim clyburn will be our guest. obama campaign senior adviser david axelrod will join us. virginia governor bob mcdonnell. former ohio governor ted strickland. texas congressman jeb hensarling and bob shrum, democratic consultant, all of them joining

us live this morning. first we want to get right to john berman. he's taken a closer look at those states. our correspondents are now on the ground. >> thanks, soledad. you might say that high, the buckeye state, is the mother of all battlegrounds in this presidential election. and nearly 2 million people have voted there already. many are at the polls just now, as they open this morning. carol costello is in ohio, just outside cincinnati. >> john, the polls are just about to open in hamilton county, ohio, and people seem to be excited. because cars have been pulling in one after the other since about 6:00 eastern this morning. hamilton county is very important for the republicans. in 2008 this county swung democrat for the first time in forever, so mitt romney really needs to turn out the vote here in traditionally republican country to win the election. because as you know, no republican has won the presidency without winning the state of ohio. of course the big controversy here is those provisional ballots. if there's a problem in your

registration form, if you filed for an absentee ballot and you decided to show up and vote in person, you're going to be issued a provisional ballot. it's up to you to fill it out properly. if there's any mistake on that ballot it could be thrown out and that would mean your vote does not count. already, one lawsuit has been filed against the way they're going to do those provisional ballots this year, so that could be a sticking point. as you know, provisional ballots aren't counted until ten days after the election. so if it's a tight race we could be waiting a long time to find out who wins the presidency of the united states. back to you, john. >> thank you, carol costello. perish the thought. meanwhile, wrapping up the campaign trail with a final emotional rally in iowa last night, president obama will spend election day in chicago. at the top of his agenda, playing basketball, and later watching the election returns come in. cnn's dan lothian is live in chicago this morning. dan, that basketball tradition, it sticks, huh? >> that's right. they're pretty superstitious in

the campaign so the president, as you pointed out, will be playing basketball today. he arrived here in chicago early this morning, we're told by campaign officials that the president is feeling very optimistic about the outcome of the election. no plans by the campaign for the president to alter his plans, and match what governor mitt romney is doing with his campaigning in ohio and pennsylvania. instead, the president will be doing media interviews from here and chicago and again playing basketball. he'll be reflecting over the last four years. and as we saw last night at his final campaign stop in des moines, iowa, he got emotional. >> i want to take this opportunity to say one thing to all the young people and not so young people who have given so much to this campaign over the years. those of you who haven't done this just for me but for each other, for a laid off family member. for a sick child. for a fallen friend. to all of you who've lived and

breathed the hard work of change i want to thank you. >> even though this is election day, the ground game continues pushing very hard in those key battleground states. volunteers will be out knocking on doors, working the phones. surrogates will be on television and radio encouraging voters to head out to the polls. john? >> it is a long day. dan lothian in chicago right now. you heard dan mention it before. mitt romney, he will be in boston, where he will cost his vote in a couple of hours. then he heads back out on the campaign trail for two final stops. one in pennsylvania, the other in ohio. i'm joined now by peter hamby who is in boston. those two stops kind of a late addition, peter. >> a bit of a tell, john. if you talk to republicans in and around the romney campaign. some of them are bracing for a loss. they have romney topping out at probably 257 electoral votes. maybe less depending on which way iowa or new hampshire goes.

but look, a lot of people know that in the campaign, this is a tight, tight race. i was just in ohio for the last week. people there are confident. even if you're not a romney supporter and you're a republican you think you can still pull out a win there. and they're projecting confidence right now. listen to what mitt romney had to say at a campaign stop last night in new hampshire. >> we have known many long days and short nights and now we're close. the door to a brighter future is there. it's open. it's waiting for us. i need your vote. i need your help. walk with me. walk together. tomorrow we begin a new tomorrow. >> john you mention pennsylvania and ohio. the most telling way a campaign thinks about states is where they travel. what do these two stops tell you? they need to win pennsylvania as a last gasp. and they are really need to win ohio here to pull out a win tonight, john. so that's why they're hitting these states today. they want to leave nothing on the table.

>> all right, peter hamby live in boston. the mitt romney team making the case whatever happens they are fighting until the end. >> all right, john, thank you. in the next 30 minutes, the majority of polls will be opening in the eastern time zone. our cnn national poll makes it clear that anything could happen today. jack markell is the democratic governor of the state of delaware. he is also an obama surrogate. nice to talk to you again. let's begin with how you're feeling as the polls are now opening and the lines have already started. a couple hours ago. how are you feeling going into today? >> i feel good. i'm on the ballot myself, and i'm excited for that. but i think like a lot of people ready for it to all be over. but i certainly feel good for the president. you know, once you get past all the speeches and all the ads it gets to who do you turn out to vote and i've been really, really impressed by the president's ground game in key states. >> the president, some people say, looked like he was crying when he was doing his last speech of the night. other people say it's cold that would make your eyes water and tears come. that's when he was campaigning

last night. he's not campaigning today. and we know governor romney is making two stops today as he continues his campaign. what would you read into that? oh, i don't think i read anything into it. at this point he's built an organization literally over years in these key states. i've been in ohio, florida, new hampshire, pennsylvania over the last, you know, six or eight weeks. in each of those states just a really impressive ground game. not just in terms of numbers but the enthusiasm on the part of the volunteers, and the work that they're doing. and he believes that if he has now put -- he's done everything he can do and now his future is in the hands of the voters and of the people who were volunteering for him and working for him in all these states. >> nate silver of "the new york times." i was talking to congressman forbes about this a little while ago, has put it at 91% likelihood that obama will take the electoral college. and i'm curious because, of course, there are plenty of republicans who say those polls are just way off. they're just not accurate. so i guess i'm curious to know what you think. polls, you know, nate silver

right or everybody else right on the gop side? >> we'll know soon enough. i've been reading his piece, as well, all the polls seem to be essentially the same thing in these battleground states. so either all the polls are wrong or, you know, or the president should certainly win. but i think in the end, i'm not much of a pundit. i think the great thing about getting to election day is what people like me think aren't really that important compared to what all the voters think. in the end we all put our faith, we all put our future in their hands. that's as it should be. >> it would be kind of nice not to have to read polls anymore and we could go read the numbers. 2004 exit polling that showed that john kerry had a huge -- a huge need, and those exit polls were way off. i mean, so you know, there had been well, counted cases where polling was just completely wrong. >> i think there's a difference

between the polls and the exit surveys. that being said the only poll that matters is the one that happens after everything is closed. so we'll know soon enough. it's been a hard-fought campaign. the important thing is what happens when we wake up tomorrow. it's one reason i feel good for the president because i think when people wake up tomorrow they're going to know who it is who's going to be focused on educating their kids, creating jobs and the like. >> i hope you're right. i hope we'll know when everybody wakes up tomorrow. >> me, too. good luck to you. jack markell is the governor of the state of delaware. let's get to zoraida. she's got some of the other stories making news. >> good morning to you, soledad. people living in coastal communities in new york and new jersey are bracing for another powerful storm. one week after the devastation from sandy. rob marciano is monitoring the situation, the track of the storm at the weather center in atlanta. rob, what can you tell us? >> right now it's impacting georgia, the squareas, southern tennessee and also florida. some heavy rain and

thunderstorms with this, as well. pressing through orlando and tampa here in the next couple of hours. and then off to the east coast towards melbourne and cocoa beach. it should last two or three hours. so kind of work your voting around there. other swing states may be impacted by bad weather. rain mixed with snow across parts of wisconsin. other than that we're looking pretty good. so cal still warm. northeast clear but cool. should be dry for the most part there. all right this storm will cruise through florida over the next day or two, and then head up the eastern seaboard. wednesday afternoon it will start to impact the northeast. i think d.c., not going to have much of an impact. jersey up through the coastline of staten island in through long island. this is the storm zone. might see a little bit of wet snow mixed in, as well. certainly gusty winds. hopefully trending for this to go a little bit further to the east. if that's the case we'll see less of an impact. right now we'll prepare for the worst and they're doing that across parts of long island and new jersey right now. >> all right thank you very

much, rob. we're also watching the streets of greece this morning. a two-day nationwide strike is under way to protest the latest round of government budget cuts. transit workers and journalists kicked off the strike yesterday in athens. you're looking at those big crowds there. they'll be joined by thousands of other union workers today. greece's parliament is said to vote on the austerity measures this week. they include cuts in salaries and pensions for public servants. japanese automaker suzuki is leaving the u.s. car market and plans to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in california. the company is not offering a timetable but says all warranties will be honored, and parts and service could continue without interruption. suzuki says low sales and unfavorable exchange rates made it too challenging to remain in the united states. monday night football in new orleans. saints quarterback drew brees tossing two touchdown passes in a 28-13 victory over the eagles. philadelphia quarterback michael vick sacked seven times as the

eagles stumbled to their fourth straight loss. boy he's hurting this morning. all right. stay with us for continuing live coverage of election day 2012. that's roland martin you're listening to in the background. ahead the enthusiasm gap. you hear a lot about it but are republican or democratic voters more motivated to head to the polls today? we'll be right back. comes with some risk,ent but proven technologies allow natural gas producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems... ... and protect land - by reducing our footprint and respecting wildlife. america's natural gas... domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives... that's smarter power today.

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welcome back, everybody. you're looking at bedford, new hampshire. that's a live look at a polling place. a little activity this morning. it's election day, and we are obviously in our nation's

capital where we are following this story for you with our special election coverage. back with us this morning, cnn contributor and republican strategist, ana navarro. cnn political analyst, roland martin. i like kumbayah, no matter who wins tonight. >> i don't know why they call it kumbayah. >> a little slow. >> let's talk about the complications of the storm that have really affected people who are trying to vote. chris christie said, going to be able to vote -- >> it's a beautiful thing. >> democracy -- >> you can vote by e-mail or -- enough. >> here you go. >> listen to governor christie, please. stop it, y'all. >> if you have been displaced from your home, out of your town, by the storm, you can also vote by e-mail, or by fax. but, i want to be clear on this now. you had to have been displaced from your home due to the storm.

not just kicked out because you didn't pay your rent. displaced from your home because of the storm, okay? and then you can also vote by e-mail and fax. so we're trying to make it as easy and simple as possible for people to vote tomorrow. i think they'll be able to do that. >> so what he was describing, and a couple people e-mailed me to say just how complicated and difficult it has been for them. partly because, of course, the storm has affected their pay. it's affected their bus route. it's affected if they have internet. it's affected where they live. all of those things have made it very complicated. are you seeing problems with this? >> i get it may be complicated. but i would rather have an option to be able to vote than not to be able to vote. to me i think it's worse where you have some of these places where you have senior citizens who are used to simply voting in their buildings and then they can't get out. hopefully we have folks in new york who are saying look, use our fax machines. use our free wi-fi to be able to aid folks in voting because it's a fundamental part of our

democracy. >> it's not going to be a perfect circumstance in new jersey or new york. it's going to be difficult. it's going to have its challenges. but i think they are making extraordinary efforts to try to give people the right to vote, the opportunity to vote. so i think they need to be commended for that. i think it doesn't affect the outcome of the presidential race. it might affect the number, and it should affect the number, it could, of popular votes because of the amount of people affected in new jersey and new york. but it can affect down ballots. >> down ballots, the presidential race is not all that we're watching. your down ballot in new york or new jersey, that could be really complicated. >> local races for things like school board, commissioner, you know, congress. >> if you're waiting in line for gas, you're not going to wait in line, some people are that going to be waiting in line if they've been waiting in line for gas for the past week, don't have power, haven't checked their e-mail in a week. that's a real serious issue for tens of thousands of people. >> you sound like a woman who didn't have gas for a long time or power. >> that's right. >> make that choice, roland and

prioritize. because you're in the middle of a crisis. >> you can't -- >> the e-mails that i've been getting really are exactly like that. like there's a lot going on. it's not that easy to do it. we're going to take a look at where the candidates have been spending most of their time leading up to this election day. christine is going to break that down for us. everyone has goals. take the steps to reach yours, with us with real advice, for real goals. the us bank wealth management advisor can help you. every step of the way. from big steps, to little steps. since 1863 we've helped guide our clients, so they can take the steps to help grow, preserve, and pass along their wealth. so their footsteps can help the next generation find their own path. all of us serving you. us bank

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welcome back, everybody. we've got some live pictures

from miami-dade county, florida. people there have been waiting in line. polls will open just about seven minutes. and of course, florida, had a lot of problems, it's a key battleground state. they've also had a lot of long lines at polls there opening in a majority of other states at 7:00 a.m. eastern, as well. everybody can vote the way the electoral system works that some states get lots of attention and swing states, of course, are in that category. other states pretty much ignored. christine romans has a look at where the president -- president obama and mitt romney have been spending a lot of their time campaigning. i would guess, also, putting all their ads, and spending as well. >> absolutely. because they're trying to influence your vote. over the past year you have seen these guys on tv and you've seen ads from these guys over and over again. these are candidate visits, soledad. when you look here you can see how those visits are concentrated right here in these swing states. i want to show you colorado really quickly. because if you look just at paul ryan. paul ryan spent a lot of time in colorado. when you look at all the candidates they certainly did. look in this denver area.

i'm going to show you why they spent so much time. all four of them in this area. look at 2004. look at these two red counties. the president was able to turn two of these counties blue. they're trying to defend that territory. the republicans trying to take it back. the president and his team trying to keep it. let me show you ohio because all roads lead to ohio. how many times have we heard that? there's a big reason here. look right up here. around columbus and take a look at cincinnati. lake county. this is the suburbs of cleveland. the president has spent a lot of time here. only 2% of the population. why does he care so much? because he's trying to keep that from turning red again. this is 2004 it was red. 2008, the president won here. look at the margin. you look at the top left you can see the margin, that candidate was only a barely squeaker. he'd like to keep that there overall. obviously columbus for obvious reasons. big population there. this is an important part for the president. and then, hamilton county, 7% of the population. both candidates spending an

awful lot of time here. this has been a county that in recent elections has been a bellwether for how the overall election is going to go. not just for ohio but for the general election, the whole country. so hamilton county very important for the candidates. >> we're watching all of them. thank you, christine. cnn the place to be for the best political coverage on tv. polls in 12 states are open right now. 15 more states will start voting. in just a few minutes right at the top of the hour we're live in every critical swing state today. and talking to some of the country's top political advisers. starting point is up next. me for the holidays. that's double miles you can actually use... sadly, their brother's white christmas just got 'blacked out'. [ brother ] but it's the family party! really jingles your bells, doesn't it? my gift to you! the capital one venture card! for any flight, any time! that's double miles you can actually use! how illuminating. what's in your wallet? let me guess, am i on the naughty list again? ho ho ho!

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watching a special election-day edition of "starting point." we're coming to you live from our nation's capital. it is decision day. right now it's 7:00 a.m. on the east coast. the polls are open in a total of 26 states, and in washington, d.c. today millions of americans will vote and choose the next president of the united states. will president obama get four more years? will mitt romney be the next leader of the free world? the best political tv -- team on tv has it covered. >> i'm john berman, let the counting begin. yes, the first election results, they are in from the tiny towns of dixville notch and harts location in new hampshire. there is an indication it could be a long night. >> i'm christine romans. 270 the magic number for clinching the white house. we're going to look at the paths to victory for each candidate, and whether the road to the white house must go through ohio. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. the immense damage from hurricane sandy forcing an election-day scramble, and now another nor'easter could add to